Mae Moore was a woman from California. She died in 2021 when she was 88 years old. She had a rare cancer called mesothelioma. Her family started a legal case against Johnson & Johnson in 2021. They said the company’s baby powder made her sick.

The family said the baby powder had dangerous materials in it. These materials are called asbestos fibers. Asbestos is a dangerous material. It can cause cancer. The family said these fibers caused Mae Moore’s cancer.

A jury is a group of people in a court. They listen to a case. Then they make a decision. The jury listened to this case. On Monday, they made their decision. Johnson & Johnson must pay the family money.

The jury said the company must pay two types of money. First, they must pay $16 million. This is called compensatory damages. This money is for the harm the family suffered. Second, they must pay $950 million. This is called punitive damages. This money is a punishment for the company.

The total is $966 million. This is a very large amount of money. But the amount might change later. There is a special court called the Supreme Court. This court has made rules about punitive damages. The rules say punitive damages should not be more than nine times compensatory damages. So the $950 million might become smaller.

Erik Haas works for Johnson & Johnson. He is the worldwide vice president of litigation. Litigation means legal cases. He spoke for the company after the decision. He said the company will appeal. Appeal means they will ask a higher court to change the decision.

Haas said the verdict was “egregious and unconstitutional.” Egregious means very bad. Unconstitutional means it goes against important laws. He also said something about the family’s lawyers. He said they used “junk science.” This means bad science. He said this science should not have been shown to the jury.

Johnson & Johnson says its products are safe. The company says the baby powder does not have asbestos in it. They say it does not cause cancer. In 2020, the company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the United States. Talc is the material in the old baby powder. Now they sell baby powder made from cornstarch instead. Cornstarch is a different, safer material.

Doctors and scientists know that mesothelioma is linked to asbestos. When people breathe in asbestos, they can get this cancer. This is why the family said the baby powder caused Mae Moore’s cancer.

Trey Branham is a lawyer. He works for Mae Moore’s family. After the jury’s decision, he spoke to reporters. He said his team hopes Johnson & Johnson will accept responsibility. He said the deaths are senseless. Senseless means they should not have happened.

Johnson & Johnson has many legal problems now. More than 67,000 people have started legal cases against the company. These people say they got cancer after using baby powder. They also say they got cancer from other talc products. Court documents show this number.

Not all these cases are about mesothelioma. Mesothelioma cases are a small group. Most cases are about a different cancer. This cancer is called ovarian cancer. It affects women.

The company has tried to solve these legal problems. They wanted to use bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is when a company says it cannot pay its debts. The company made a proposal about bankruptcy. But federal courts said no. The courts rejected the proposal three times.

The mesothelioma cases were not part of the last bankruptcy proposal. The company has paid money to solve some mesothelioma cases before. But they have not made one big agreement for all cases across the country. So many mesothelioma cases are still going to trial. These trials are happening in state courts. Many trials have happened in recent months.

In the past year, Johnson & Johnson has lost several big cases. Courts have ordered them to pay large amounts of money. Monday’s verdict is one of the largest. But the company has also won some trials. Last week, there was a trial in South Carolina. The jury in that case said Johnson & Johnson was not liable. Liable means responsible.

Sometimes the company can reduce the money on appeal. This happened in Oregon. A court there ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $260 million. But later, a state judge made a different decision. The judge threw out the verdict. This means the judge said it was not valid. The judge said there must be a new trial.